Being at the Joshua Wilderness Institute has a way of
keeping you on your toes and week two was a prime example of that. It was also
a reminder that God will sometimes do things in my life that will catch me off
guard, but I know that I have to trust Him because nothing will ever catch Him
off guard. This is exactly what our staff was trying to teach us this week, the
wonderful act of trusting in someone when you are not sure what is coming next.
Monday morning came much earlier than I would have preferred,
at 4:30am I was woken up by the words “You have 30 minutes to pack this bag,
wear shoes you can hike in and be in the great room by five.” We met in the
great room at five and our staff told us that this week will be about trusting
that they know what is going on and they will get us where we need to go. We
were told to leave our watches and electronics at the Joshua building, because
we would be relying on our staff to tell us where we needed to be and we were also told we would be giving up showers, make-up (for the girls) and mirrors for the entire week and so with
that, we began our hike into the woods. We walked in the dark for what seemed like forever
until we finally arrived at Wildwood, just in time to see the sun coming over the
mountain.
We were split up into small groups and each day we did a
Group Initiative, teaching us how to work together as a team and understand how
to be a good leader and how to be a good follower in order to accomplish the task at hand. It was much more difficult
than it seemed, we were a group full of leaders, so to take a step back and be
a follower was a huge lesson in humility.
It was also a great picture of why the church is described as
a body, it is made up of different parts, just like we as people have different
gifts and abilities that God has given us to compliment and help each other.
Christianity is not this island we can live on alone, we need other believers
to come along side us and help us. I learned that I can't always be a leader
and that sometimes my ideas are not the best and the most painful lesson of all
is that sometimes I am completely wrong and someone else is right.
One of the most difficult elements of Wildwood came on
Tuesday night. We did an extended solo time; we sat out in the woods for what I
am going to say was almost five hours. Just me and God, it was much more
difficult than I thought it would be, I learned that I hate to be alone for
that long, but it was a huge eye opener to see that I don't spend enough time
alone with God allowing Him to just speak to me and be with me. The discipline
of meditation is one that I don't have but want to work on this year.
Our final G.I. came on Wednesday night at dinner, remember how I said that being at Joshua has a way of keeping you on your toes well here is another reason why... we were told to sit at tables in groups of eight, so being the "starving" college aged kids we are, eagerly sat down waiting for food to come our way, but before the food could come our way the staff went around to each table and tied our hands to the people on our right and left, so we became this giant circle of confused young adults. the object was to work together as a team to get our food from the kitchen, bring it back to our table, serve it, eat it, and clean it all up. Crazy, I know! It was difficult but we definitely worked together to accomplish our common goal....EATING!! I don't think I've ever had more fun at dinner before, or made that big of a mess.
On Thursday we were told to pack our bags again but this time we were going back to the building. We all had to come together once again to tear down the tents and kitchen at Wildwood, so it could be stored for the winter, until it is set up again for next summer. After that we walked back to the joshua building and rested up until dinner.
We also had our first girls night, we got to know our female staff on a more personal level as they shared their stories and struggles with us and showed us that we are never alone in the things that we struggle with. It was such an encouragement to know that God has surrounded me with a group of girls who will end up being life long friends, willing to share my joys and my struggles as I journey on through life after Joshua comes to an end.
This is my weekend off so I am just lounging around the building. cleaning my room and doing homework.
Overall it was a really hard week but it was also a really great week!
Until the next time
Always,
Paige
